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Sony and Ericsson team up to develop a wearable for on-the-go diabetes tracking

By Conor Allison – Wareable

Sony and Ericsson have teamed up to develop a wearable concept that helps diabetics monitor their glucose levels on the go.

The prototype is able to track the user’s blood sugar levels, activity, sleep and heart rate, while also providing alerts if glucose levels drop. And with the device harbouring an LTE-M/Cat-M1 chipset from Altair, the wristband is able to remain connected and stay tracking even without tethering to a smartphone.

We don’t yet know what the device will look like, however. While it could offer a similar form factor to the image above, it appears more likely that it will look like a more traditional tracker.

“The wristband prototype is one proof of concept for health services with the potential to significantly improve quality of life,” said Izumi Kawanishi, director of Sony Mobile. “We selected Altair’s ALT1210 chipset as it offers unparalleled low power consumption and cost efficiency, while its reduced size is essential for integration in the wristband form factor.”

So, is this something that Sony and Ericsson will be looking to bring to health services any time soon? Well, for now there’s no indications of a timeline for release. But as with any company exploring non-invasive glucose monitoring, the standard of approval is naturally high, since this is dealing with more serious and life-affecting tracking.

Interestingly, this move also represents quite a shift from Sony’s previous wearable exploits, which largely involved everyday smartwatches. Like Fitbit and Apple, though, the company now appears to be seriously locked in on exploring diabetes management through wrist-based trackers.

The concept will be debuted at MWC 2018 in Barcelona later this month, so stay tuned for our hands-on look at what Sony and Ericsson have cooking.